WASHINGTON, DC (January 30, 2018): Health IT Now’s Opioid Safety Alliance – a working group of prescribers, dispensers, manufacturers, professional societies, and patients advocating for the use of technology to fight illegitimate opioid use, abuse, and addiction – responded tonight to President Trump’s State of the Union address and the Democratic response, offered by Congressman Joe Kennedy (D-MA).

Health IT Now Executive Director Joel White released the following statement:

“From the President’s address, to the guests in the gallery, to Democrats’ State of the Union response, the toll of America’s opioid epidemic was seen and felt throughout the evening. The Opioid Safety Alliance thanks President Trump and Congressman Kennedy for acknowledging this urgent public health crisis, but we also know that words will only get us so far. Now it is time for policymakers to match their rhetoric with meaningful action and build on the work of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act with new, technology-enabled solutions to stem the tide of abuse,” said HITN Executive Director Joel White. “Our Opioid Safety Alliance has brought diverse stakeholders together to rally around measures that would do exactly that – a facilitator that connects PDMP data across states to deliver clinical information in real-time, leveraging the power of telehealth to expand new treatment options, and modernizing privacy laws to promote informed clinical decision making, to name a few.”

White concluded, “When Americans wake up tomorrow morning, when the applause in the Capitol chamber has long since faded, and when Washington returns to business-as-usual, we will still be confronted with a reality in which 175 Americans die at the hands of a drug overdose each day. Inaction is inexcusable. The Opioid Safety Alliance stands ready to partner with lawmakers in the pursuit of a future marked by safer medication use, lower costs to the healthcare system, and more lives spared from the pain of addiction.”

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About Health IT Now: Health IT Now (HITN) is a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers that supports incentives to deploy health information technology to improve care, patient outcomes, and to lower costs. Learn more at www.healthitnow.org.